Belt-buckle



L. H. CRANDALL. BELT BUCKLE. APPLICATION FILED 0CD 6- I9I9.

1,347,324. Pdtnted July 20,- 1920.

7 INVENTOR LEHMAN H. CRANDALL ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'LEHMAN CRANDALL, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

. BELT-BUCKLE.

To all who 12a it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEHMAN H. CRANDALL, a citizen of the United States, TSlCllIlg at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have lnvented new and useful Improvementsfin Belt-Buckles,

' of which the following is a specification.

belt, but which will permit of ready disen- V gagement and adjustment. Another object is to providea belt buckle" of-the sliding clamp type, so formed as to effect a tight engagement with a belt without mutilating same and which tends to grip the belt more securely as expanding strain on the belt increases. 7

A further object is to provide a belt buckle embodying a pair of gripping mem bers slidable longitudinally relative to each other between which the free end of a belt may be interposed, and a construction whereby said members may be caused to have a wedge actuated clamping action upon the belt to oppose movement of the belt, but which can be readily positioned to permit free movement or" the belt.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in -which:

Figure 1 is aperspective view of the belt buckle showing it as applied;

Fig. 2 is a view of the belt buckleas seen from the rear and in a detachedposition.

Fig. 3 is a detail in longitudinal section, showing the gripping members in theiropen position. I

Fig. 4 is a view in longitudinalsection, showing the gripping members in 1 their closed or gripping position.

More specifically, 5 indicates a back plate member which is designed to be rigidly secured to one end of a belt 6 and will hereafter be referred to as a fixed gripping member; the plate being detachably connected to the belt by means of a toothed V Specification oi Letters Patent. i Patented July 20 192() Application filed October a, 1919. Serial in. 328,671.

clamp 7 such as is commonly employed on belt and'sus'pender fastenings and the like. This clamp 7' ispivotally mounted on the plate by means of trunnions 8 formed on the edges of the: clamp and projecting through perforations 9 in ears 10 arranged at the inner terminal of the plate. The ears 10 project inwardly at right angles to the plate and are formed in continuation of in 'wardly projecting marginal flanges 11 extending throughout the longitudinal edges of the plate. a

The flanges 11 form a guide bearing for a slidable gripping member 12, embodying a plate extendingover the outer face of the plate 5 and having inturned marginal flanges 13 projecting over the flanges 11 and which flanges are formed intermediate their ends and about midway of the length of the slidable gripping member with inturned tangs 14 projecting'over and around the edges or the flanges 11 in slidable engagement with the latter. v j In ordeitto efltect a clamping action between the members 5 and 12, the flanges 11 are formed tapered, that is with their edges arranged on an incline relative to the outer face of the plate; the edges of the flanges sloping outwardly toward the outer end of the plate 5, as indicated at 15, in such manner that when the slidable member is advanced toward the outer end of the fixed member with the tangs 14 riding on the flanges, the plate portion of the slidable member will be advanced inwardly toward the plate portion of the fixed member. The portions of the flanges 11 adjacent to the inner attached end of the fixed member are comparatively narrow, so that when the slidable member is retracted to positionthe tangs 143 on the narrow portions of the flanges, the face plate may be disposed in such spaced relationto the plate 5 as to per mit ready insertion and removal of the free end of the belt.

In constructing the buckle, the members and 12 are formed complete, with the inturned tangs spaced such distance from the inner wall of the face plate that these tangs may be passed over the ears 10 to position the tangs 011 the flanges. The outer end of the plate 5 is turned inwardly to form an end flange 16 which serves as a stop to limit the outward movement of the slidable member. The clamp 7 is put in place after the slidable member is positioned on the fixed member and serves as a, stop to limit the inward movement of the slidable member.

As a means for facilitating the spacing or outward movement of the slidable mem leer on retraction thereof, theinner ends of-- disposed insuch position as to engage the 1 inclined faces'l'? on retraction of the slidable member and cause the inner. end of 'the latter to move outwardly.-

Asameans for confining the gripping action between the members 5 and 12 to a relatively narrow area and to a space intermediate the'ends of the members, the plate portions of the members 5 and 12 are formed on curvatures ofdifferent ares; the plate portion of'the member 5 being formed'on an are having a radius lessthan that on which the plate portion of the slidable member is formed, as particularly shown in Fig. 4 so, that the middle portion of the inner or back plate member will extend closer tothe inner face of the outer orslida able member, By this construction the point of engagement with the belt will be concealedbehindthe outer slidable member so'that in event this portion "of the. belt 7 wears by reason of engagement of... the buckletlierewith, the worn portion willbe hidden behind the outer;slidable member. v

In the operation of the invention, the

slidable member 12 is retracted, as shown in Fig; 3, to space the face portion thereof from the outer fa'ce of the fixed member 5,

and the free end 18 of the belt is inserted through thespace thus formed, as shown lllFlg, 1, whereupon the shdable member s advanced as shown in l ig. t to gr p the belt-underthe wedge action of the inclined tion of the belt and the readiness with which theslidable gripping member may be advanced and retracted enables quick attachment, adjustment and removal of the V I claim V lfln a belt buckle, a curvedzfixed grip- 7 member having a face plate normally spaced fromthe'fixed member thereon, said gripping member will operate to move the face plate toward the fixed member to grip a belt interposed between said members.

2. Ina belt buckle, an arcuate fixed gripping member having tapered longitudinally extending marginal flanges, and a slidable pingmember, arcurved slidable gripping arcuate gripping member having i'nturned tan gs riding on said tapered flanges, said shdahle gripping member being formed on a curvature less than that'of the fixed grip- V ping member. V j c o I 8. In a belt'buclile, an arcuate fixed gripping member having tapered longitudinally 7 extending "marginal flanges, a slidable aim ate gripping member havinginturned tangs riding on saidtaperedfianges, said slidable L gripping member being formed on a' curvatui'e less. than; that of" the fixed gripping memberpprojections on said fixed gripping member, and inclined 'faceson saidslidable gripping member adapted to rideagainst said projections to move said slidable gripping. member outwardly relat ve to the fixed grippingmember.

4. In a belt buckle, an arcuate fixed gripping member having tapered longitudinally extending marginal-flanges, a slidable arcuate gripping member having inturned tangs' extendingover and around the edges of said tapered flanges, meansjatthe terminations of said tapered flanges for operating with the tangs to prevent:disengagement of the tangs from the'fian'ges, projections on the fixed grippingxmember. extending from the sides thereof, and'inclined faces on said slidable gripping, member'a dapted to ride against said projections to move the slidable gripping member outwardly relative to the fixed gripping member.

"ism-man 1i; eni ma; 1 

